Can not use NodeJS 8
Metadata
Current evaluation
Closed as stale; Node.js 8 support was later addressed in snapcraft#2342 which updated the nodejs plugin to the latest 8.x LTS.
Resolution: closed stale
Reason: Closed as stale by maintainer @mr-cal after no further reproduction details were provided. Node.js 8 support was later addressed in snapcraft#2342.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
#### Issue description
When declaring a node version 8.X.X, snapcraft builds fail with a variety of errors.
#### Steps to reproduce the issue
1. Explicitly point 'node-engine' to 8.10.0
2. run 'snapcraft'
```
name: hello-node-snap
version: "1.0.2"
summary: A simple hello world command
description: hello world
confinement: strict
apps:
hello-node-snap:
command: bin/hello-node-snap
plugs: [network]
parts:
hello-node-snap:
plugin: nodejs
node-engine: 8.10.0
node-packages:
- hello-node-snap
```
#### What's the expected result?
I've received the following errors:
[Errno 2] No such file or directory: mysnapdirectory/prime/bin/hello-node-snap
OSError: [Errno 26] Text file busy: mysnapdirectory/parts/hello-node-snap/install/bin/node
#### Additional details
It looks as if npm is creating a package.json lockfile and silently failing.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | closed stale | Closed as stale; Node.js 8 support was later addressed in snapcraft#2342 which updated the nodejs plugin to the latest 8.x LTS. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
15
Quick Win:
1
Complexity:
62
Confidence:
94
Actionability:
22
|
close stale | Open legacy report of Node 8 build failures lacks requested environment details; current Snapcraft has replaced nodejs/node-engine with npm/npm-node-version. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
18
Quick Win:
1
Complexity:
60
Confidence:
78
Actionability:
10
|
close stale | Node 8 (node-engine: 8.10.0) builds fail with 'Text file busy'/missing bin; maintainer asked for env details, reporter never replied. Legacy nodejs plugin and node-engine key no longer exist in Snapcraft. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
29
Quick Win:
3
Complexity:
58
Confidence:
93
Actionability:
27
|
close stale | Legacy Snapcraft nodejs builds using Node 8.10.0 failed inconsistently; the old nodejs/node-engine path is now superseded by npm/npm-node-version, and no environment details followed maintainer requests. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
10
Quick Win:
9
Complexity:
0
Confidence:
95
Actionability:
90
|
close resolved | Issue about NodeJS 8 plugin failing in snapcraft. The nodejs plugin was replaced by the npm plugin with renamed parameters. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
5
Quick Win:
3
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
45
Confidence:
80
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft nodejs plugin build failures when pinning node-engine to 8.10.0 (missing bin, Text file busy on node). No comments or labels; closed without a fix. NodeJS 8 is long EOL and the plugin has since been rewritten. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | Snapcraft build fails when targeting Node.js 8.10.0 due to missing binaries and file busy errors. Issue is completely inactive after 8 years with no maintainer response or labels. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft build fails with Node.js 8.10.0 due to file busy and missing binary errors. Unlabelled, zero comments, and inactive for over 8 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
95
Support Request:
20
|
close stale | Snapcraft builds fail with Node.js 8.10.0 due to missing binaries and file busy errors. Unaddressed for over 8 years with no maintainer interaction. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| closed | |
| created |
Related work
-
Likely Fixed By:
snapcraft#2342
(confidence 85%)
PR #2342 updated the nodejs plugin to the latest 8.x LTS, addressing the original concern.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2001 node-engine does not support NodeJS 8.X.X | snapcraft | closed | Closed as stale; later PR #2342 updated Snapcraft's Node.js plugin to the latest 8.x LTS in commit b847e74af. | |
| #1797374 Update nodejs plugin to use latest LTS version 8.12.0 | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Updated Snapcraft's Node.js plugin default to 8.12.0 via merged PR snapcraft#2342, commit b847e74af. | |
| #2342 nodejs plugin: update to the latest 8.x LTS version | snapcraft | merged | Merged PR #2342 updated Snapcraft's nodejs plugin to the latest Node.js 8.x LTS release in commit b847e74af. | |
| #2032 Can not use NodeJS 8 | snapcraft | closed | Closed as an obsolete configuration report: the legacy NodeJS plugin had been replaced by npm and its parameters renamed. No resolving GitHub PR or commit was identified. | |
| #1703643 node-engine: 8.1.3 is not happy | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as stale on 2026-08-25 after nearly nine years; no fix was recorded, and maintainer @~mr-cal noted that the npm plugin had changed considerably since the 2017 report. |